Kara, our Fair Trade Store manager is in India meeting with those artisans hearing their stories, learning about their hand-block printing techniques, and sharing the photos and messages that were collected, thus bringing to life the connection between artisan and conscious consumer.
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The Bells of Mindfulness, proposes to deeply examine the idea of sacred spaces. Drawing on the Buddhist tradition of using temple bells as an aid for mindfulness, Tiffany suspended 1000 Indika bells and 1000 handmade paper cranes attached to brightly colored ribbons, color blocked, from a persimmon tree in Montalvo’s Italianate Garden, creating a tranquil space for rest and reflection. The Bells of Mindfulness is a participatory sculpture. See how you can get involved…
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Sitting at my kitchen table, looking down at the beautiful tablecloth hand block printed in Bajur, India, I can’t help but wonder… Could I have made this? How difficult can block printing be? I just so happen to have some beautiful blocks, fabric paint, paintbrushes and canvas ….so here I go!
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Working at the Fair Trade Store in Berkeley, I get to see beautiful crafts arriving a few times a week. My favorite part of my job is learning about the wonderful projects and producer groups we work with. Asha Imports is no exception…..
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The traditional block-print fabric bags the artisans in Barmer began to produce for Handmade Expressions quickly became one of their best-selling items. However, hand block-printing requires an immense volume of water to dye and print the fabric. This issue of resource management in the face of environmental and economic adversity is one that many underprivileged communities face—use water to support an income generating project at the expense of other survival needs, or suffer economic hardship?
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When Lata Kachhawan first went to visit the communities in rural Rajasthan, she had to walk or go by camel. There were no roads, no electricity, just miles of sand dunes to walk over. And when she finally got to the village, the few women she saw walking to the well ran away from her, scared about what an outsider might be doing there. Over twenty years later, things have changed a lot–find out how Fair Trade has been an important part of that transformation.
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Mom usually knows best–and she deserves the same! Celebrate Mother’s Day with a special Fair Trade gift from our Global Exchange Fair Trade stores and receive a free set of beautiful bangle bracelets. You’ll be supporting artisans with over 1,000 years experience!
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